It was not surprising that they became very successful. The combination of Dr. Carlo Gyselbrecht and Frederik Leliaert that was formed in the end of 2010 proved a perfect mix of knowledge and proficiency (Dr. Carlo) and a lot of enthusiasm, ambition and dedication (Frederik). These are the key elements for a fancier who wants to become a national or international champion. Dr. Carlo was the breeder and co winner of the First International Barcelona 1995 and second National Barcelona 1999, while Frederik had won three national victories in his career. These are outstanding achievements that drew the attention of many fanciers worldwide. This illustrates their determination to win top prizes and to succeed as a top class fancier! They drew up a plan and they set their goals. Their main goal was to excel in the international classics of pigeon racing: the marathon races.
Aiming for the international races
The fanciers from Knesselare were hard on themselves and they did not sit back and relax. They have been breeding a lot of pigeons and they allowed their newly bred stock birds time to prove themselves. At the end of the season the least successful birds were left out. Frederik Leliaert is the right man for the job when it comes to selecting birds: he is an outstanding fancier who loves to put his pigeons to the test. His yearlings and his old birds have a lot of work to do during the season. He is known for being a very demanding fancier and some fanciers are not fond of his approach. Nevertheless it is thanks to this approach that he has won many top prizes and victories! It seems that his approach is not all that bad. Frederik thinks that a pigeon that is well nourished and that trains regularly can take plenty of racing. He believes his approach is firm and fair: his pigeons have a lot of opportunities to show what they can do. In the end the strongest pigeons will survive. That is why he prefers to select his pigeons already as one year olds instead of keeping the birds in the loft until they are three years old. The result would be the same. He thinks you should select the best pigeons in your loft as soon as possible.
That is how he created a basis of excellent pigeons that met his requirements. These birds had the qualities to become prize winners and they were perfectly suited for the races he had in mind. They allowed him to achieve his goals. He was still fairly young (especially compared to other fanciers) when he added a third national victory to his list of achievements. This turned him into a respected pigeon fancier. He is a no nonsense fancier who knows what he is doing! The successful basis of this pigeon loft was moved to Belgium to be used in the Gyselbrecht-Leliaert combination. Most fanciers knew what to expect from this combination: they were bound to win top prizes sooner or later and the two managed to fulfil the expectations in the 2012 season!
The golden line of ‘Dees’
Frederik Leliaert has moved his invaluable collection of breeders from Aardenburg in The Netherlands to Knesselare in Belgium. This is a breeding line of great merit: these pigeons have won many victories, including national first prizes! It is remarkable that nearly all of the successful racing pigeons of this bloodline were particularly successful in demanding circumstances. They won most of their top prizes in races with a velocity of approximately 1100 m/min. The three brothers Dees, Horus and Aton, also known as the three musketeers of Aardenburg are the eye catchers of this breed. They gained international fame with the following achievements:
-‘Dees’ NL05-1452924
1st Intnat Bordeaux 7,213 p. ’07 1st Nat Bordeaux ZLU 3,992 p. ’07 1st Nat Narbonne ZLU 3,816 p. ’08
-‘Horus’ NL09-1239246
1st Nat Bordeaux 3,835 YL ’10
-‘Aton’ NL09-1239239
7th Nat Narbonne 3,849 YL ’10 104th Nat Bordeaux 3,835 YL ’10
The descendants of these pigeons are amazing as well. One of the best descendants is Eduardo, which was one of Frederik’s favourite birds. Unfortunately he died from an injury in early 2011, which he received when he was transferred to Knesselare. He has won for instance the following prizes in his career:
-‘Eduardo’ NL09-3909177
1st Best ZLU pigeon WHZB 2010 11th Nat. Narbonne ZLU 3,850 p. (904 Km) 17th Nat. Tarbes ZLU 2,950 p. (931 Km) 94th Nat. Bordeaux ZLU 3,835 p. (769 Km)
He stems from a joint breeding of ‘Vader Eduardo’ NL04-2127041 (of Eduard Ulijn from Waterlandkerkje) x ‘Dochter Dees’ NL06-1125788 of Frederik Leliaert. Meanwhile ‘Vader Eduardo’ has been moved to the loft in Knesselare as well, which means this outstanding breeding pair will be playing an important role for the Gyselbrecht-Leliaert combination in the future.
These outstanding results were all achieved from his loft in The Netherlands. However, these pigeons were very successful in Belgium as well: their excellent results left no doubt about their qualities and talents. It did not take long before another excellent pigeon was bred from this bloodline: the amazing yearling ‘Jan’. He was bred from ‘Blue Carcassonne’ BE04-2063075 (a crossing of Dubbele x Swing x As-Deridder), which Carlo Gyselbrecht purchased on the PIPA auction of Erik Limbourg in Thorn in 2009. This pigeon was co winner of the title of second National Champion Grand Distance 2008. He was coupled to none other than ‘Zus Dees’ NL09-1239227, which is a full sister that was bred from the outstanding stock pair of Frederik Leliaert (sire x dam Dees, which both originate from Dees Van Kerkhoven from Terhofstede - NL). Let’s take a look at the greatest achievements of the extremely talented yearling ‘Jan’. He is winner of:
-De ‘Jan’ BE11-4100613
1st Prov Bourges(457 km) 2012 – 3,470 p.
5th Nat. Bourges I 2012 – 16,859 p.
1st Chateauroux (497 km) 2012 – 628 p.
22nd Prov Chateauroux 2012 - 3,960 p.
112th Nat Chateauroux 2012 – 15,902 p.
8th L’Aigle (333 km) 2012 – 104 p.
25th Bourges (457 km) 2011 – 1,025 p.
26th Montluçon (537 km) 2012 – 743 p.
383th Zone A Monluçon 2012 - 7,828 p.
39th Bourges II (456 km) 2012 – 414 p.
309th Zone A Bourges 2012 – 3,409 p.
Click here for the full pedigree of ‘Jan’
-‘Louis’ BE11-4100816
1st Bordeaux-Agen(802 km) 2012 - 196 p. (1219 m/min)
15th Prov Bordeaux 2012 - 1,051 p.
75th Nat Bordeaux 2012 - 5,480 p.
He is another member of the outstanding 'Dees' bloodline: he is the son of ‘Super Jaarling 99’ NL99-1284538 x ‘Zus Dees’ NL08-1593724.
Click here for the full pedigree of ‘Louis’
-‘Golden Blue Narbonne’ BE11-4100864
4th Narbonne (890 km) 2012 - 256 p. 70th Nat Narbonne 2012 - 6,857 p. 79th Int Narbonne 2012 – 11,000 p.
He is a son of ‘Crayonnée Dax’ BE03-4430677 (5th Nat. Ace Pigeon Grand Distance KBDB 2007) x ‘Nestzus Eduardo’ NL09-3909178.
Clickl here for the full pedigree of ‘Golden Blue Narbonne’
It seems that the Gyselbrecht-Leliaert combination is ready for the next seasons thanks to their excellent bloodlines. The lines of Dees and Eduardo will be paired to a few world class pigeons of the Gyselbrecht pigeon breed, including of course the line of the Barcelona winner (first International Barcelona 1995), reinforced with some other excellent cracks and proven breeders in the grand distance that were purchased over the years. There is no doubt that this unique combination will be breeding pigeons that will play a key role in the future!
Frederik knows how to get the most out of his pigeons: he can take his fragile birds to a higher level season after season. He proved this repeatedly in races in The Netherlands. He has the ambition to bring a national victory to Knesselare. These are high ambitions but that is what characterises Frederik. Even the best results are not good enough as long as his pigeons cannot manage to win a national top 100 prize. This illustrates his drive to win national top prizes. We think this is one of the characteristics of any great champion: you should never rest on your laurels. You should spare no effort in trying to do better every time!
This explains why it did not take them long to win their first important prize: Dr. Carlo and Frederik took their first provincial victory already in their second season as a team. In addition they achieved a national top 100 ranking in four out of five classics of the grand distance in 2012 for which they basketed their pigeons (Agen, Barcelona, St. Vincent, Narbonne & Perpignan). They are well on their way to achieve their goals: they would like to have a top class team of marathon pigeons in only five years’ time, with which they can excel in the international races of the grand distance. Their pigeons have a lot of opportunities to show their strength: they are basketed at a regular basis and they can also fly long distance races. The yearlings are basketed for Agen-Bordeaux, Libourne,Limoges and Narbonne. The two year olds get the chance to take part in the international races and Frederik does not hesitate to basket his two year olds for Barcelona. The birds from Knesselare are expected to eat well, to train at a regular basis and to win top prizes. That is what it takes to make it to the next round. Survival of the fittest!
An overview of some of the provincial and national top 100 results in 2012
26/5 Bourges Loc 554 yearlings: 1-2 (with first and second nominated)
Prov 3,470 yearlings: 1-6
Nat 16,859 yearlings: 5-16
02/6 Chateauroux 628 yearlings: 1
Prov 3,960 yearlings: 22
30/6 Agen Loc 196 yearlings: 1-6
Nat 5,480 yearlings: 75
06/7 Barcelona 2,117 old birds: 9
Nat 11,590 old birds: 47
16/7 St.Vincent 1,082 old birds: 17
Nat 5,374 old birds: 67
29/7 Narbonne 1,571 yearlings: 25
Nat 6,857 yearlings: 70
I.Nat 11,000 yearlings: 79